The Larry Sanders show is leading the NBA in blocked shots. http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics Every time he's out there it's a block party. Thanks a lot Maury. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mGKNDuOhw_Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I'll always remember how Old Man Rock was pushing hard for Larry Sanders well before that draft. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=187866
Larry Sanders would fit perfectly with this Houston team right now. Unlike Morris, Sanders is aggressive and would attack and thrive on the run and gun offense of Houston. Sanders has all the tools to be the same type of shot blocker like Ibaka. He's long, athletic, strong and aggressive. I swear, Larry Sanders looks like Tmac..
So basically you have no true opinion of your own. You didnt even care for Sanders, you'll just take any stance that "rubs it in" ... Personally I wouldnt have minded Sanders then. Its long been a position of need, "true" backup center / lengthy interior D. But can understand why he passed over. Really Sanders has sucked worse than Patterson until this year. But now, whoa (Still should be upset before that where Mauowrrey passed up on DeAndre Jordan AND Omer Asik [for Joey Dorsey] )
As usual Shroopy2, you have no idea what you're talking about I'm stating facts. Unlike you, who wants to jump on the bangwagon now, I've been pro-Larry Sanders for a while. Not as long as the prophetic Old Man Rock, but certainly longer than you. Again, unlike you, I also criticized Maury for drafting Ray Lewis with a basketball over DJ shortly after it happened and have been consistent ever since. I started a thread about how Jordan was leading the league in shot-blocking last season as well. It's easy to come in way after the fact and say "personally I wouldn't have minded Sanders then" or "still should be upset before that where Mauowrrey passed up on DeAndre," but there were people who did it and had an opinion on it either right when it happened or shortly afterwards. You were nowhere to be found in either case and you come in here accusing somebody else of not having an opinion, smh. Maybe you should change your screen name to MrPlayItSafe. Lol @ "really Sanders has sucked worse than Patterson until this year." Further evidence that you have no idea what you're talking about. Sanders wasn't even getting consistent playing time until this year. He didn't even average over 15 mpg until this season while Patterson came in the league averaging over 15 mpg and has been playing over 20 mpg the last two seasons. The Larry Sanders show just this season has finally started getting over 20 mpg. Nothing personal Shroppy, just gotta call you out on your bs every once in a while Bingo...He runs the floor extremely well, has good hands (unlike a certain big man who plays for the Rockets), elite level athleticism, ridiculous wingspan, and has shown that he's even developing a jumper now that he's finally getting an opportunity.
I wanted Larry Sanders. Played with him a couple of times, and he actually has some solid handles, and his jump shot has the potential be extended out to the NBA 3. Never thought he'd be this good at blocking shots though. His timing wasn't so good back then.
Old Man Rock was right. I have been trying to trade for Sanders in my fantasy leagues for a while now - was too slow to pick him up and am kicking myself for it now.
On one side you have Larry Sanders, who's leading the league in blocked shots. On the other you have Patrick Patterson, who's leading the league in this:
LOL ok, where were you last season and the season before last? "Leading the league" in blocked shots sounds so good but then again leading the league means he blocks 3 shots a game as opposed to the Ibaka who blocks 2 shots a game, as opposed to Patterson who doesn't block a shot a game...that's not exactly a big deal, I'm not going to lose sleep over 3 Fgs. Shot blocking is one of the most overrated things in the game, that's because most of the prolific shot blockers wait for the dude to get his shot off first so he could attempt to block the shot instead of playing solid defense, a big reason the most elite defensive big men in history don't average a ton of blocks (ie Yao Ming, TD, KG), while you have dudes like De Andre Jordan and now LS anchoring non-elite defensive teams. Sometimes, you have both like LBJ and DH, but those are exceptions. As far as "fit" into the Rockets go, Sanders is a center, and as a prospect is inferior to both Omer Asik and Greg Smith. He has no business playing the PF spot on this team, you need someone who could create your own shot and/or who could shoot Js, Sanders has none of those. If we had drafted him he would have just languished on the bench, hell DMO is 10x the prospect and he still hasn't gotten any PT.
http://espn.go.com/nba/standings Our point differential is +1.4 right now. You don't think 3 FG per game more or less would make a huge difference to our position in the standings? Also, the intimidation factor matters. People will shoot more from the outside (lower fg %) instead of going for easy layups if there is a shot-blocker inside. Shot-blocking overrated? Hakeem disagrees!
There seems to be a lot of mixed opinion on the importance of a rim protector, like Larry Sanders. Subjectively, having a guy like that makes a big difference. Not just considering the blocked shots he gets, but also the intimidation factor. Having a guy who is elite both at blocking shots and grabbing defensive rebounds seems to me to be the best "statistical" indicator for a truly great defensive big man. Can anyone come up with examples of players who were very good at both but not considered great defensively as a whole?
But its not like Sanders does everything Asik does plus gets an extra couple blocked shots. Would he be a better backup option than Greg Smith? Probably. Smith started out strong, but he seems to really struggle defensively. Too many bad fouls.
morey needs to start drafting some dudes based on raw athletic potential... he misses a lot of players because he doesn't like doing this
Josh Smith is the best shot blocker available in the off-season with 2.3 blocks in 34.8 mpg. I don't really know if there are any free agents this year that fit your description. I think Favors is underrated defensively, but he doesn't become available until next year. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/4257/derrick-favors Good defensive big men have active hands and either a lot height and/or athleticism. Good footwork is as crucial as good timing for blocks and rebounds. I think rebounds and blocks are a good indicator for defensive big men as well as steals.
